SPLA says Heglig is South Sudanese, vows to defend 1956 border
April 13, 2012 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s army has asserted readiness to defend the country at “all cost” and claimed that the oil-rich Heglig area is within their country, despite it being internationally recognised as being part of Sudan.
Until fighting over Heglig began in late March South Sudan had seemed to have accepted Heglig was in South Kordofan, as per a decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2009. But in recent days South Sudan has reasserted its claim over the area and said it will not pull out unless UN troops are deployed or Khartoum gives guarantees Heglig will not be used a base to launch attacks on South Sudan.
On Thursday James Hoth Mai, the Chief of General Staff of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) said his forces “not going anywhere”.
“Panthou [as South Sudan calls Heglig] is within our territory and we are in our country. We have not crossed into anybody’s territory. We are inside our country and we are there to stay.”
Mai told a group of South Sudanese youth that the SPLA was ready to fight the north Sudanese army, who on Friday announced a counteroffensive in an attempt to retake the area.
“Let them come. We will meet where men meets. We will meet in the middle and not inside the children and elderly people. We will face them”, Mai declared amid applause.
He called on the youth across the nine-month-old nation to reconcile their differences and unite against what he described as an invasion by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) on South Sudan’s oil-rich Unity State.
Juba maintains that it took Heglig in response to a SAF ground offensive and weeks of bombing inside South Sudanese territory. Khartoum denies both charges.
Sudan’s president Bashir has formed a committee to oversee a nationwide mobilisation of Sudan military and paramilitary forces and a massive recruitment drive to respond to the border conflict and the war in South Kordofan an Blue Nile which began last year.
South Sudan has announced a similar campaign in states the border Sudan.
“We will fight to die in our territory,” the general said reiterating his call on the youth to be ready for voluntary mobilisation and training by the country’s army in order to respond to what he described as “daily provocations in our oilfields”.
Juba suspects that Khartoum is using militias in Unity and other areas states to destabilise the country so that Sudan can reclaim the oil fields it lost when South Sudan seceded last year taking with it 75% of oil production.
In January South Sudan shut off its 350,000 barrels per day of crude output and refused to continue transporting its oil through the north accusing Khartoum of having “stolen” around 6 million barrels of southern crude since December.
Khartoum has not acknowledged that figure but has admitted taking oil as payment in kind for what it says are unpaid fees. The border conflict has raised fears of a return to all out war between the two nations.
A 2005 peace expired in July 2011 South Sudan became independent, bringing and end to the revenue from southern crude being split 50:50 with the north. Oil was one of the many issues fought over in the two-decade war the led to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and is vital for both governments; especially South Sudan.
According to Mai, the oil-rich Heglig area was named Panthou by former Sudanese president Jafar Nimery after the discovery of oil in the area.
The general argued that there was documentary evidence identifying clearly that Panthou (Heglig) belongs to the republic of South Sudan and that can be found in the British archive which demarcated boundaries between the two regions when Sudan gained her independence in 1956.
“Since when has Panthou been part of Sudan? This area has it original name known has Panthou. It is an area deeply inside South Sudan territory under Panrieng County, in what used to be called Western Upper Nile, but late former Sudanese president Jafar Nimery named it Unity State”, he said.
He explained that president Nimery changed the name of the area from being western Upper Nile province and named it Unity after discovery of the oil in 1970s with intention to annex the whole area to the north but that did not work as it provoked the war.
The army’s spokesman, Colonel Philip Aguer, equally concurred with views held by the General Mai, and explained that Panthou is an area under Panrieng County and used to be inhibited by Dinka Ngok of Panru clan before eruption of civil war and subsequent eviction of the local people by the Sudanese army when the oil was discovered to allow Chinese oil companies exploit it.
“It has never been part of Sudan. It is a historical place within Panru area”, he said.
The senior military figures spoke after President Salva Kiir’s deviant speech to South Sudan’s parliament where he listed the international bodies and countries he had ignored in their calling the SPLA to withdraw.
After Kiir’s speech Alfred Sebit Wani an MP from Central Equatoria State said: “We have never supported return to war as it has been the position of our president but if Sudan has decided to invade our country, we shall all die with our army.”
(ST)